Physics educator awarded for inspiring next generation

Dr Maria Parappilly, senior lecturer in physics at Flinders and research section head of STEM Education, has won the Australian Institute of Physics Education Medal 2018, a prestigious award that recognises an outstanding contribution to physics education in Australia.

Her medal, which was presented during the 23rd AIP Congress Dinner in Perth on December 12, is a notable achievement that reflects strongly on Flinders, as 84% of the previous medal winners have been from a Go8 University.

In addition to receiving the award, Dr Parappilly delivered a talk to the congress on her innovations in physics education. This has included her organising all physics education streams of the AIP Congress and introducing a two-day program that includes Teacher Professional Development workshops on the theme “Teaching Nexus: physics education from schools to universities”. The Congress chair mentioned excellent feedback from physics teachers for the way Dr Parappilly’s program was organised.

Among the 700 physicists who attended the AIP congress were Dame Julia Higgins, president of the international Institute Of Physics, who had come from the UK to award the Walter Boas Medal for research in physics in Australia.

Dr Parappilly’s recent award follows her success in winning the 2017 D2L Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning (Physics).

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College of Science and Engineering